Bottom-Line Benefits of Greener Pretreatment.

New pretreatment technologies are proving to be good for both the environment and finishers' operating costs.

Environmental issues continue to be a dominant concern for manufacturers and others involved with pretreatment and painting processes. Complying with regulations has become more difficult and more costly. But new advances in pretreatment technology are providing environmental solutions and cutting costs.

In the past, when anyone raised the question of reducing chemical discharges, the rule was that "dilution is the solution." This is no longer the case. In fact, due to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, environmental compliance now not only encompasses the minimization of discharges but also the long-term ownership of any discharge generated.

Numerous control procedures for complying with EPA regulations have emerged, but often these control methods can be costly from both a capital and an operating viewpoint. For example, the time and cost involved to obtain discharge permits have skyrocketed recently, and once permits are obtained, any expansion in production is closely scrutinized by the various governmental agencies. In certain states and regions of the country, an increase in any industrial discharge from a particular plant or operation will be granted only if the facility makes a similar reduction in another industrial discharge.

In addition, government agencies have mandated that suppliers of some industrial chemicals eliminate certain discharge sources by changing their manufacturing methods. In most cases, this has resulted in a significant increase in costs to the end user.

Fortunately, the attempt to keep pace with environmental laws continues to spur the development of new technologies. New …